“Woah! Hey! What the heck’s going on?” Theo struggled a bit in her grasp. Being cradled like a small child was slightly emasculating.
“Hang on tight.”
Before Theo could ask what she meant, Cherish squatted down and leapt into the air. Theo felt the wind rush past him, and then temporary weightlessness as they were propelled over the high wall, into the space above it. He clamped his mouth shut, and tried not to look down. Theo saw the ground rush up to them from the other side, and nearly fainted. He assumed they’d splatter on impact. Instead, Cherish’s augmented legs took the almost silent impact
Safe on the ground, he turned to look at Cherish. She blinked her eyes and sat him down gingerly. “Are you alright?”
He kept his mouth shut until his stomach settled. “I’m fine. Although, I almost shit my pants when we landed. I didn’t know you could do that.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” Cherish winked at him playfully. “Maybe if you live long enough, you’ll learn more.”
“Impressive.” Makram patted Cherish on the shoulder.
“How’d you get down from the wall?” Theo looked from Makram to Cierra, trying to find an answer.
“Access ladder.” Makram jerked his head towards the wall. “Just like the design Hubard showed us. We have to move again, I don’t expect we’ll be alone for much longer. We don’t have a large window of opportunity here.”
“Still that data sphere?” Theo kept glancing around the interior of the compound. The group followed Makram down a dark stairway underground. “I only ask in case the objective changed.”
“Yes. We’re still after the sphere,” Makram confirmed. His boots stomped on the stone stairwell. “Cherish, how does the layout compare to the one you downloaded from Hubard?”
“So far, it’s the same. It could change on the next level. I don’t think all these monasteries are built the same way.”
The underground level had the smell of musty, dirty leaves. Whatever the Yasta used it for, it was obvious it wasn’t kept dehumidified. Theo wrinkled his nose. “What was that festival about, anyway?”
Cierra slowly picked her way down the stairs by the faint bio-lights in the wall sconces. “I’m not sure, honestly. The Yasta have a weird origin story. The festival has something to do with their main god giving them the Book of the Law, or something like that. It’s one of the few times every year the monastery is open to the public. The local people believe a pilgrimage to this place can bring you good fortune for the rest of the year. I only read a little bit about it before we left.”
The group stopped when Makram held up one hand. “Quiet. There’s something up ahead. I don’t like the way any of this feels.” He turned and spotted an alcove to one side. “This way.”
Makram pulled everyone with him into the small niche. They waited for a few minutes, until he was certain there was no one headed down the corridor. Makram stuck his head out and glanced down the hall. He had a quick look, and then ducked back into the niche. The group shifted uneasily. Theo tried not to press against either of the women, but in such a tight place, it was hard to stay out of everyone’s personal space.
Makram whispered to them, as quietly as he could. “There’s a guard at the end of the hall. I can’t tell what he’s up to out there, but it seems he’s guarding the entrance to the room we need to get inside. It’s about fifty feet ahead of us. Does that come up on the diagram you downloaded, Cherish?”
She closed her eyes for a few seconds and concentrated. “That would be it. Unless this place diverges from the diagram once we get there…”
Cierra let out a frustrated huff. “It also means they Yasta are waiting for us. With everything else going on, I don’t think we can overlook that possibility.”
“Except the unguarded walls.” Theo pointed out.
Makram shook his head. “Best way to lure us inside is to make it look like no one is watching. I still don’t like this whole scenario. We could be inside a trap.”
“We could try and hit him with a sonic gun. Would take him out for the time being.” Cierra patted the gun in her holster.
Makram quickly shut her idea down. “Those guns aren’t effective here, unless you have a clean shot. This monk is off to one side. The sonics might be absorbed on the walls.”
“Can I try something?” Cherish offered, boldly.
“What did you have in mind?” Makram raised an eyebrow curiously.
“Oh, just watch.” Cherish pulled the hood up over her face. “I look pretty monastic this way.” Before Makram could say another word, she was outside the alcove and down the corridor. Cherish’s voice echoed down the hall. “Hey, brother! We have a big problem upstairs!”
“What?” The guard looked around confusedly. She’d woken him up from his on-duty nap.
“Couple of pilgrims are outside the main gate. They’re threatening to duel over a woman. The Abbot wants you out there. Your turn to put a stop to these knuckleheads from the backwoods.” Her voice was distinctly more masculine. If Theo hadn’t known any better, he would have sworn she was a man.
“I’ll handle it. Who’s going to watch the door when I leave?” The guard sounded excited to be able to move around for a bit.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
“Ha! Good luck.” The scorn for his job was evident. The sentry swore under his breath, turned, and walked down the corridor that ran to the left of him.
Cherish waited until he was out of earshot before she turned back to the others in the alcove. “I took care of it. He won’t be back for another ten minutes.”
They filed back out, and headed toward the door. Makram stopped before they reached it. He looked down both directions of the corridor that ran perpendicular to the one they’d used to get there. Satisfied that no one was ready to charge down the passageway at them, he tried the door handle in front of him. It was unlocked, and opened on the first try. They were looking at a winding staircase that dropped away, underground.
“Is this what we were supposed to find?” His voice was hushed.
She closed her eyes again, and then opened them. She sounded worried. “No, this doesn’t match the diagram that Hubard gave me at all. I have no idea what’s down there.”
“I don’t like this. Maybe we should abandon the mission and return. If our map was compromised, we could all be wiped out.” Cierra ran her fingers along the holster holding her impact gun.
Makram rubbed his temples, deciding what to do. “Give me a second. Cherish, you have an internal communicator? I hate to risk detection, but we’re in a bad spot. Can you reach Hubard back at the orbital lift?”
“Let me try.” Once again, Cherish closed her eyes and attempted to concentrate. This time she was silent for a good minute. The others kept watch on the corridors. She opened her eyes defeatedly. “No. I can’t get him on the communicator. The signal is…too weak. Something is blocking it from this level. It’s not being actively jammed, far as I can tell, but…”
Makram opened the door again and looked down the stairwell. “The light’s terrible down there. It’ll be hard to see anything, but I’m going to risk it. We’ve come too far to pull out. Cherish? Your night vision. How is it?”
“Excellent, as ever. I can adjust it if the light is any worse down there.”
“That’s good to know, in case we need you down there. Stay up here and watch the door, like you told that monk you would. If he comes back, find another reason to send him away. Give us ten minutes down there. If we don’t come back, get the hell back to the lift.” Makram opened the door, and stepped inside.
“Wait, ‘if’? Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Cherish moved to a position by the door.
“No.” Makram was resolute. “I may change my mind if it’s too dark down there to see, but stay put for the time being.”
“Okay…” Cherish sounded disappointed, but she did as she was told.
Makram turned to look at Theo and Cier
ra. “Alright, let’s move. Maybe the diagram is wrong about this stairwell, but right about what’s at the bottom of it.”
Theo was the last of the three through the door. He closed it softly behind him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. It was a deep stairwell, and Theo lost count of the steps after he reached fifty. They traveled slowly with Makram in the lead. The light was faint, but it held up all the way down to the bottom, thankfully.
“Can you reach Cherish if we have to?” Cierra anxiously whispered to Makram as they continued downwards.
“I’ll try later. I don’t plan on being down here long. Holy Batumah, I wish I’d asked Hubard if there was any possibility that diagram might be wrong. He seemed to think it was accurate. He’s not usually mistaken about these things.” Makram shook his head. So far, his first mission as commander was not going so well. The stairs ended at a door in the bottom of the stairwell. Makram tried the knob and found it, once again, unlocked. He went through first, with care. The others followed.
Cierra was becoming increasingly nervous. “I don’t like this.”
“Wait a minute.” Makram paused few seconds before he said. “I looked at that diagram before we left. This was supposed to be on the other side of the door at the top. Maybe the only thing Hubard didn’t get was the stairwell. Give me a second to let Cherish know we’re going to move forward.” He pulled out a short-range radio and held it to his ear.
“Anything?” Cherish hissed at him.
Makram shook his head in frustration. “No signal from it, either. I can’t figure out what’s messed with our comms.”
Theo speculated possible causes. “Relissarium shielding? Maybe the Yasta are running tests on it. Didn’t Hubard say it has huge energy absorption properties?”
Cierra bit her bottom lip. “I don’t think so. Other than the samples someone discovered on Relisse last year, I don’t think anyone has more than the slabs we managed to get back from Garth.”
“I think this is the door we want.” Makram turned the handle on the door and it opened. He was almost positive that they were back on the right track.
Behind the door was a huge room. The only problem was a lack of light. Makram walked inside and pointed up the ceiling. It slopped down to the floor, so that the far end was only seven feet tall. At that end were a few small ventilation slits in the ceiling. Other than that, it was hard to make out anything of note in the darkness.
“Going to be hard to find anything inside this place. I hate to do this, but I have to see if it resembles the storage chamber on the diagram.” He took out a light, and shone it around. There wasn’t a lot to see. “Everybody inside. Theo, close the door behind you. Cierra, are those old terminals on the right? I need to find one with a ruby red trim on the top.” They all moved to the light that Makram shone in front of him.
Cierra produced her own light, and aimed it where he had indicated. “I think so. That’s what they look like to me.” She examined the terminals. They were about four feet in height, tall enough for the average person to use, but not so big they would be hard to move. Suddenly, her eyes landed on one with a deep, red trim. “Makram, I think this is it. What do you need it for?”
“I don’t need it. I need what’s inside it. Can you get that lower panel off it? According to the council, the data sphere we need is inside.”
Makram and Theo waited, as Cierra worked to remove the panel. She cursed several times. She’d brought a few tools along in a belt pouch, but they weren’t quite up to the task. Theo borrowed Makram’s light. He aimed it at the panel, so that Cierra could see better. Makram checked his chronometer several times. No one wanted to leave this close to the objective, but they may have to.
After some grumbling, and a few colorful curses, Cierra pulled the panel free. She laid it with ease on the ground and looked inside. Cierra picked up her light from the floor and shone it in the direction of the small compartment. Her smile soon faded.
“Empty. There’s no data sphere inside this thing. In fact, there’s nothing at all. Are you sure this was the right one?” She pressed her scraped knuckles to her lips.
Makram ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know. According to the diagram I saw, this was supposed to be it. However, there wasn’t supposed to be a stairwell in the way, either. Look, I’m going back to get Cherish. She has the diagram in her memory bank. Maybe we can make sense of this together.”
The lights in the room came on, all at once.
Four
They were blinded for a moment. All three of them scrambled for a weapon. Theo blinked to make his eyes adjust faster to the influx of light. They were surrounded by twenty Yasta monks. These weren’t the green novices. The ones around them were full Brother Yastas. Each had the look of a seasoned warrior on his face. All of them carried lasers or infintium blade swords. Theo’s heart raced in his chest.
The Carbonari unit moved to the center of the room in a back-to-back triangle formation. By now, Cierra had her gun out. Theo couldn’t see what kind she carried, but he doubted it was a sonic. Two of the monks moved apart, and allowed another Yasta to break through their line. Theo could see this one was much older than the rest. He wore robes that were much more elaborate. A large silver seal dangled from around his neck.
The older monk smiled maliciously. “Good day. I am Cavalier, the Abbot of this monastery. We have been expecting you. I am so glad we could make your acquaintance.” He held up a large sphere, about six inches in diameter, and tossed it back and forth between his hands. “Is this what you wanted to find? I had the foresight to remove it. But enough about me. As long as you are here, you can give me some information on how you got into this place, who helped you, and the location of your orbital lift outside our humble walls. Nice move avoiding the missile on the way down; we’ve been in touch with the local government. You did a lot of damage to their launch platform, and they are not happy.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Theo saw Cierra drop to the ground. She fired her gun at the Abbot. Instead of the beam of coherent light that he expected, the loud retort of an impact gun rang out. The Abbot jerked to one side, as the bullet spun past him. It still caused a big commotion, as the wild shot bounced and ricocheted off the walls of the storage room, before embedding in the floor. The shot caused a ripple to go through the ranks of the Yasta, as they immediately prepared to retaliate. Theo froze as he saw every weapon trained on them lock into a firing position. He positioned his feet to leap forward. They might be able to kill him, but he intended to take as many with him as possible.
“Hold your fire!” The Abbot’s voice filled the room. “I need information from this bunch! We can’t get it if they’re dead.” There was a combined series of grumbles. The weapons were lowered.
“Don’t pull that stunt again.” Makram whispered furiously to Cierra. “I didn’t know you had an impact gun on you.”
“Picked it up instead of the laser.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Cierra scoffed. “And stop the mission because of it?”
“Silence!” the Abbot yelled at them. “I am speaking here, not you!”
Theo judged the distance between himself and the monks. He had the lasana blade. All he needed to do was reach them. They had lasers, but a few well-placed swings could still cause irreparable damage. Theo felt a tap at his arm. It pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned to face Cierra. She stared at him with her big, green eyes. A silent message passed between them.
Yes, you have a sword that is far better than anything they carry, but do you want to let them know? Break all their infintium blades with your lasana and they’ll know what you have. Even if you aren’t killed in the first few seconds, they’ll have access to a technology that only we possess at the moment. Don’t be so stupid as to give that advantage away.
“As I started to say,” the Abbot continued. “You are the invaders. We’ve captured you inside
our monastery. We can do anything we want to you, so keep that in mind. Furthermore, I doubt anything on you ties the three of you to your Carbonari masters. They will disavow you the first minute it comes out you were caught inside our monastery.”
“Excuse me, your Grace.” A voice beckoned from the door. The two monks behind the Abbot parted so he could see who called to him.
The Abbot turned to see Cherish held by two Yasta monks. They were on either side of her. She was quiet, and looked to have surrendered without a fight. “Well, well. What do we have here?”
One of the guards answered him eagerly. “We found the fourth Carbonari. She pretended to be one of ours. We were informed by our sentry the moment they arrived in the corridor.”
Cherish captured without a fight? Theo chuckled to himself. Did any of them have any idea what they just brought into the room? She was a loaded weapon! Theo tried not to smile.
“Bring her to me! This one seems to be different than the others.” The Abbot waited as they shoved Cherish towards him. He pulled Cherish’s robes back to look at her metal arms. Theo could see the surprise in his face, even from the distance. He watched as the Abbot tapped on one of her arms. “I can’t even imagine how much of you is real. How did you end up this way, dear child? Someone sunk a lot of money into your modifications. Now, why would they do that, hmm?”
“I could tell you, but I don’t think you really want to know.” Theo watched as Cherish’s skin flushed red and her eyes flared. “Or maybe you would? I’ll bet it’s been a long time since you’ve had a woman in your bed.” Theo could hear the gasps echo over the room.
He managed to catch Cherish’s eyes from where he stood. He needed to tell her that the Abbot held something valuable in his hand. How could she not understand from her close vantage point? The Abbot had the data sphere they were supposed to take back to the Carbonari headquarters. Cherish finally noticed Theo glance down at what the Abbot carried. Her eyes focused on the serial number on its side. Now, she had to know what it was.
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 12